Abstract
This paper reports an energy harvester suitable for self-powered wireless sensor network (WSN) nodes consisting of a piezoelectric cantilever, an energy harvesting circuit, and a storage capacitor. Having the same size as a credit card, the proposed WSN nodes can be easily integrated into various applications, such as motor and air conditioning equipment. The WSN node is powered by an integrated bimorph piezoelectric generator that harvests energy from ambient vibration. The paper has developed a method to optimize the harvester parameters to attune it to the dominant vibration frequency. Tests carried out on the proposed harvester show that the proposed design can meet the energy requirements of a WSN node and achieve an efficiency of 79%.
Highlights
Wireless sensor networks have attracted great interests over the past few decades
If the energy harvester could provide a constant power of 100 mW for certain period with a stable output voltage of 3.3 V and a current of 30 mA, it would be sufficient for wireless sensor network (WSN) node to produce periodic transmission as wireless transceiver usually works for about tens to hundreds of milliseconds at a time in a periodical manner
Main factors are likely to be the inaccurate estimate of material properties and the method of installing mass, especially for the bonding strength between the piezoelectric cantilever and the mass
Summary
With the advance in integrated circuits and MEMS technology, low cost, small size, and low power circuits and sensors have seen tremendous progress in research and development, which makes the construction of large-scale WSN possible. One concern about WSN nodes is their power supply system [1,2,3], and the power demand is generally in the order of tens of μW to mW. Conventional power source for WSN nodes is chemical batteries. The application of batteries in WSN has been limited due to their large size, limited working life, and replacement cost. It is preferred that the WSN nodes have the ability to generate energy from ambient environment. The self-powered WSN nodes have become a research focus in view of its advantages, including simple structure, heatless, no electromagnetic interference, and almost unlimited working life. Major efforts have been devoted to research in this and related areas in many countries, especially the United States, Britain, and The Netherlands
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